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It’s an exciting time in Pittsburgh, with a compelling Penguins team on the ice and construction of a new arena on the horizon. As we embark on this exciting journey, we want our fans and the people of our region to be part of it every step of the way. After all, this will be your arena.

Pittsburgh’s new arena will be a state-of-the-art facility that will serve Western Pennsylvania and the tri-state area for the next generation and beyond. Hosting more than 150 events per year, this is a downtown destination where lasting memories will be made and new traditions will take shape. The arena will not only be home to your Pittsburgh Penguins, it will have a high appeal in attracting a wide range of entertainment events and national tours. In addition, it will be an environmentally-friendly facility.

To ensure that the new arena is the finest in North America, the attention paid to its design and development is absolutely imperative. While studies are being conducted and the cutting-edge features of other new buildings are under consideration, we are asking for your input to guarantee that we construct an attractive, comfortable, and service-oriented venue, second to none.

Over the next few months, we will be conducting a series of online surveys to gather your feedback and collective input on a variety of design and development elements. Survey topics will range from seating and sightlines to concourse features and catering. Our goal is to create an unparalleled experience for all patrons at each event, and leave no possibilities unexplored.

We also will be calling on Penguins season ticket holders, suite holders, and fans from our season ticket waiting list to join focus groups to discuss the new arena.

As we continue to “Experience the Evolution” of Penguins hockey, we want your help to “Create the Experience” of tomorrow. Please watch for more correspondence in upcoming e-newsletters and on pittsburghpenguins.com. We encourage your participation in this process and appreciate your interest and involvement!

Crash the Net - Pens Q&A
QUESTION: Do you think that Georges Laraque is worth his salary, and is playing him taking away from the development of a younger 4th-line style player?
-Marm in Sharpsburg, PA

Georges LaraqueBOB GROVE: There's no question Laraque, who will earn $1.3 million this season, is going to have to show Michel Therrien and the coaching staff a lot more than he did last spring to earn regular playing time. If he could take the body with more regularity, avoid bad penalties and drop the gloves only when it needs to be done, there could be a place for him in the lineup.

As far as Laraque taking away playing time from young prospects as a fourth-line right winger. . . those prospects have to show they deserve it more than he does. Sure, any youngster trying to earn that spot will have to fight an uphill battle against a veteran with a one-way contract. But if the Penguins are not convinced he's helping them, there's nothing to stop them from trading Laraque or reassigning him with the hope another team will pick him up on waivers. You don't give roster spots to players based primarily on their age; they have to belong.

Right now, the standout right wing candidate among the young players is probably Jonathan Filewich, and he's not a fourth-line player. So Laraque's status doesn't really affect him.

QUESTION: At the end of last season the Penguins carried 26 players on their roster. How many players do you think they will carry this season?
-Tim in North Haledon, NJ
BOB GROVE: The NHL roster limit under terms of the CBA is 23. After the trading deadline, a team may carry an unlimited number of players on its active roster.

QUESTION: Is there a schedule yet for training camp? Are there going to be sessions open to the public?
-Tim in West Mifflin

BOB GROVE: The Penguins will conduct physicals and testing on the first day of camp, Sept. 13. The following three days, Sept. 14-16, camp will be open to the public at Southpointe. Pittsburgh's first two preseason games are Sept. 17-18 in Montreal, after which there will be two days of workouts at the Arena before a Sept. 21 game in Detroit and a Sept. 22 home game against the Wings. Then it's off to West Point for another three-day team-building session, and then a return home for a weekend home-and-home exhibition series with Buffalo, beginning Sept. 28 here. So there's only a few Arena workouts for the full camp, and those will not be open to the public.

QUESTION: I just wanted to know if the Penguins are keeping the jersey and logo the same or are they going to make changes like some of the other teams who have already released their uniform designs?
-Matthew in Butler

BOB GROVE: The mail just continues to stream in about the Penguins' new Reebok Edge uniforms. Look for the Penguins to unveil the new uniforms prior to the start of camp. But to reiterate: no new logo. There are no major changes to the uniforms, no changes requested by the team. The slight modifications to the uniforms will be the same as those made to the uniforms of every team. While some other NHL teams (including Washington, San Jose and Ottawa) are making logo changes, the Penguins are not.

QUESTION: I was wondering if Sidney Crosby's new found wealth and new clothing line,and all these off-ice endorsements will have a negative impact on his play on the ice this year?
-Trevor in Ottawa, Canada

BOB GROVE: No need to worry about Sidney Crosby. No one on the team is more focused, and he's not about to let off-ice projects or income blur his vision of winning. He's had endorsement contracts for years now, so even with his new Reebok clothing line it's pretty much business as usual for Sid. By the way, as it stands right now, Crosby will the 15th-highest paid player on the team this season in terms of base salary.

All goal judges will move to the press box this season.
The goal judge has become a relic in the age of video review as their main function is to light the red lamp after a goal is scored. Many clubs will take advantage of this by adding new luxury seats in the areas vacated immediately behind the net.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Crash the Net - Pens Q&A
QUESTION: I'm a worried Penguins fan. Looking at the offers made by Edmonton for restricted free agents, I can see that the Pens may have a tight window of opportunity. My question involves the nature of tender sheets for free agents. If a team has an offer accepted, they have to give up draft picks. What happens if a team tries to sign two big name restricted free agents? Typically, teams only have one first round pick to give up in compensation?
-Ian in Mt. Lebanon, PA

BOB GROVE: Not to worry. A team signing a player to an offer sheet worth more than $5 million per season would owe the player's former team four first-round draft picks. But the CBA states teams "cannot acquire picks to use as compensation," making it impossible for any team to simultaneously sign two players to offer sheets worth more than $5 million per season.

Remember that the Oilers' signing of Dustin Penner this summer is the exception, not the rule. History shows that offer sheets have almost always been matched, and while that may be more difficult for some teams to do in the salary cap era, it's still going to be the norm. As discussed here before, I believe the Penguins could easily be the target of an offer sheet in the summer of 2009, when Malkin and Staal will both need new contracts -- if they do not sign extensions next summer. You can bet GM Ray Shero and his staff are already thinking of ways to mitigate the risks of that scenario.

QUESTION: Who do you think will play the points on the power play? Gonchar and Sydor? Whitney and Letang? What impact do you think Sydor will make?
-Bill in North Hills, PA

Sergei Gonchar
BOB GROVE: I think we should expect to see Sergei Gonchar on the right point and Ryan Whitney on the left point of the No. 1 power play unit again this season. Why not? Gonchar finished second among NHL defensemen in scoring with 67 points, and his 48 power-play points tied Sheldon Souray for the top spot among defensemen. Meanwhile, Whitney finished sixth among defensemen in scoring with 59 points, including 33 on the power play -- tied for eighth with Nicklas Lidstrom. They were important factors in Pittsburgh leading the NHL with 94 power-play goals and finishing fifth with a 20.3 percent conversion rate.

That leaves Darryl Sydor and Kris Letang as the only legitimate candidates for the second unit, and with Letang being a right-handed shot, he could play the left point and give the Penguins one-timer potential from both points.

Sure, the Penguins could experiment a bit and begin to mix and match these four players. But given Gonchar's production and the frequent success of the back-door plays between Sidney Crosby and Whitney, it might be over-thinking the whole thing to make a change right off the bat.

I believe Sydor's experience and puck-moving ability will have a positive impact on the Penguins' ability to clear the defensive zone more quickly. Two interesting questions that will play out in camp and the preseason: will Sydor be paired with Letang at even strength? And which defensive pair will play behind Crosby's line?

QUESTION: Is there any truth to the rumor about the outdoor game between the Pens and Sabres on January 1st? And if so, how can Pittsburgh fans go about getting tickets to the game?
-Kelly in Butler, PA

BOB GROVE: The NHL has yet to make anything official as far as the reported Jan. 1 game between the Penguins and Sabres at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium. If that game is going to happen, an announcement is expected this month. At that point, or shortly thereafter, expect ticket information to be made available to all fans. And with more than 70,000 seats available, everyone who wants a ticket should be able to get one -- even with the game expected to draw fans from southern Ontario and other points in the eastern U.S.

QUESTION: Do you see Evgeni Malkin moving up to the wing on Sid's line and Jordan Staal taking the 2nd line center job, or Staal remaining at wing and Malkin centering the 2nd line?
-Roscoe in Cobb County, GA

BOB GROVE: All three players are natural centers, although you would have been hard-pressed last season to guess that Staal hadn't spent much of his life as a left winger. It's always possible, given Michel Therrien's constant line-juggling, that Malkin could be moved up with Crosby on a more frequent basis; those two played together quite often last season when the Penguins were behind, especially in the third period. But my sense is that Therrien would prefer to keep Crosby and Malkin on separate lines and keep Malkin at his natural spot. If that is the case this season, I would expect Staal to stay paired with Malkin. Those two worked very well together last winter.

There remain a lot of variables when it comes to arriving at line combinations. Will Petr Sykora establish a chemistry with Crosby? Will Mark Recchi play the right or left side after playing both wings last season? Will Gary Roberts be a regular left wing on the Crosby line? Will Erik Christensen fit in better on the wing than at his natural center spot? Can Jonathan Filewich make the team out of camp, and if so on what line? In one month we'll have the answers, but remember this: as much fun as it is to consider all the possibilities, Therrien's approach may mean that the opening night combinations will have meaning for about, oh, 40 minutes.

QUESTION: This year I decided to get tickets to the preseason home game against the Red Wings. I've never been to a preseason game so I want to know if I will see the first line players on the ice and if so, how much ice time do you think they'll get?
-Geno in State College, PA

BOB GROVE: CBA rules require NHL teams to dress a minimum of eight "veteran" players for each preseason game. A "veteran" is a skater who played in 30 or more NHL games the previous season; a goaltender who dressed for 50 or more or played in 30 or more NHL games the previous season; a first-round draft choice from the most recent draft; or any player with 100 career NHL games.

Of course, it's up to the management of each team to decide how many more "veterans" to dress, but in most cases you'll see more young players early in the preseason and fewer later in the preseason -- although the mix also depends on other factors, such as how many games are scheduled on back-to-back nights.

The Detroit game is the fourth of six preseason games for the Penguins, and it comes one night after a game in Detroit. It's likely that only a few players who play in Detroit the night before will also dress for the home game. As far as ice time goes, you can expect the veterans who do play at the Arena that night to see a fairly typical amount of ice time.

Angelo Esposito will not attend the Penguins rookie camp due to a groin injury.
The team is hopeful that Esposito will participate in their regular training camp, but the youngster may not be healthy enough. His injury combined with Pittsburgh's new found depth, leaves Esposito as a long-shot to make the club this year.

As for Esposito, I think yiu guys will send him back to Quebec this year. The reason is because you already have so many good young players playing for you, and they are all going to want long term extensions. It will be a barrage of players one year after another. If you leave him in Quebec, he has more time to develop, and that's one more year you won't have to pay him, or worry about how you are going to re-sign him, or trade him.